Tutoring necessary?

[klippo]

(Sorry if this isn't the right place to post! - please move/delete as necessary)

Hey guys!

So just a question for everyone. Is it necessary to get a tutor to do well in a subject (ofc 'doing well' is subjective, but let's say 45+) if you don't have a natural knack for the subject? I'm asking this from an English perspective. I know there are many people out there capable of achieving high scores because they like humanities/literature and it's in their domain. However, if you're an average student who does alright (for example, an A average) but not in the top band, would it be feasible to obtain a high score, especially without a particularly good teacher at school (my situation basically) and without a good tutor?

I'm kind of seeing a 'trend' (not that it's new or anything), but a lot of people seem to get tutors for everything. Personally I don't see it as particularly fair, especially for those whose family situations don't allow it, but I guess there isn't a lot that can be done about it.

Interested to get peoples' thoughts on this!

[Splash-Tackle-Flail]

(Sorry if this isn't the right place to post! - please move/delete as necessary)

Hey guys!

So just a question for everyone. Is it necessary to get a tutor to do well in a subject (ofc 'doing well' is subjective, but let's say 45+) if you don't have a natural knack for the subject? I'm asking this from an English perspective. I know there are many people out there capable of achieving high scores because they like humanities/literature and it's in their domain. However, if you're an average student who does alright (for example, an A average) but not in the top band, would it be feasible to obtain a high score, especially without a particularly good teacher at school (my situation basically) and without a good tutor?

I'm kind of seeing a 'trend' (not that it's new or anything), but a lot of people seem to get tutors for everything. Personally I don't see it as particularly fair, especially for those whose family situations don't allow it, but I guess there isn't a lot that can be done about it.

Interested to get peoples' thoughts on this!

I've got a more elaborate answer on the life tip thread but for specificity:

No. It's not "necessary", but especially when you're not naturally orientated in english, and you have a "not so good" teacher, it certainly helps. Improving in english, in my opinion, is quite heavily based on using and applying the feedback you receive from others, and for quality feedback, I think a good teacher/tutor can provide someone with a massive advantage.

For your hypothetical 45+ benchmark, given your situation, I think a tutor is a worthy investment.. Although you can still do wonderfully without one. For example, what other resources do you have? English oddball buddies? AN? Other English teachers at school?

As far as not being in the top band, it can have an influence especially in a subject where SACs are so important (50%).. But just remember- while resources, a top school, and quality tutor all help, the biggest influence on your score is you.

[KarenCho]

(Sorry if this isn't the right place to post! - please move/delete as necessary)

Hey guys!

So just a question for everyone. Is it necessary to get a tutor to do well in a subject (ofc 'doing well' is subjective, but let's say 45+) if you don't have a natural knack for the subject? I'm asking this from an English perspective. I know there are many people out there capable of achieving high scores because they like humanities/literature and it's in their domain. However, if you're an average student who does alright (for example, an A average) but not in the top band, would it be feasible to obtain a high score, especially without a particularly good teacher at school (my situation basically) and without a good tutor?

I'm kind of seeing a 'trend' (not that it's new or anything), but a lot of people seem to get tutors for everything. Personally I don't see it as particularly fair, especially for those whose family situations don't allow it, but I guess there isn't a lot that can be done about it.

Interested to get peoples' thoughts on this!

Hey klippo!

So I'm from NSW (and am therefore not doing the VCE) but based on my knowledge:
- tutors are not necessary, especially if you can't afford one. I didn't have a tutor for the longest time (because family situation did not allow) while all my friends did and I was still able to do well although this wasn't in HSC so it might be a bit different
- tutors are helpful if it's possible to get one as they are another source of feedback, which is the best way to learn in english

But if you don't have a tutor/don't want a tutor, or do not have the means to get one, there is an abundance of forums and free help available online. For example, you can get the AN community to help critique your essay(s), or ask your teacher (or other teachers in the English faculty that you're comfortable with, if your one isn't that great) to take a look at/give feedback on your work, or perhaps ask other students or older/graduated students that you may know to help as well!

A tutor isn't always necessary. For a long time, I felt bad about not having one because everyone else was getting their essays edited (and on occasion even half-written) by their tutors which was completely unfair. But then I realised that some of the people aren't learning as much because they have someone else to do the editing for them! If we have to edit our own essays and look at it from a stranger's and/or marker's perspective, we have gained a lot more experience and insight which is ultimately helpful to us!

So try not to worry too much, and find all those free resources
Best of luck in your studies!

- Karen

[klippo]

Thank you for your responses Splash-Tackle-Flail and Karen!

I think, for me, a big part of 'tutoring' is the fact that a lot of people do it and even though I might do just as well as those who do tutoring, it's more of a psychological and confidence issue? It's as though I'm missing out/falling behind, but in reality it's not always the case. Not to say that tutoring isn't good, because obviously it can be immensely helpful! Anyway, rambling now.

Thanks again for your comments, feeling more confident for the year to come 

[KEAEducation]

Tutoring is never a necessity! Really it depends what goals you set for yourself, but I would say that any goals (45+) are achievable without tuition. Tuition just makes the process easier, think of it as a short-cut. Tutors will spoon-feed you knowledge that is more specific to you. Teachers don't have the time to give in-depth advice and guidance for over 50 students or however many students they may have whereas tutors do have the time. However, this knowledge is not unattainable without tuition and you can certainly achieve any mark you want without a tutor. The only thing that a tutor will provide you is a more efficient means of learning. They'll make it that slight bit easier and that's about it, the capacity for performance is all about yourself individually to which there is, of course, no hypothetical limit.

I like to think of it as a matter of hours.
Say you have 20 hours a week outside of school per week to study.
Say you spend 4 hours in total outside of school studying a specific text by yourself - reading it, interpreting it, writing your own notes, looking at free web sources etc.
Now all that a tutor will do is cut that preparation time down. They'll just feed more specific channels of information to you, they'll help with your interpretation so that a literary idea that would take you approximately 2 hours to grasp and develop into something writable would take only an hour or so. A tutor could effectively turn that 4 hour time period into a 2 hour time period.
This is not accurate, it's just an illustration.
Tutors don't raise marks for you, they just make it easier for you to do it yourself.

So what do you do if you can't get a tutor? Do what everyone else is doing and work your butt off. There is no disadvantage or advantage. Just hours in.

[KarenCho]

Thank you for your responses Splash-Tackle-Flail and Karen!

I think, for me, a big part of 'tutoring' is the fact that a lot of people do it and even though I might do just as well as those who do tutoring, it's more of a psychological and confidence issue? It's as though I'm missing out/falling behind, but in reality it's not always the case. Not to say that tutoring isn't good, because obviously it can be immensely helpful! Anyway, rambling now.

Thanks again for your comments, feeling more confident for the year to come 

No problem! I definitely know what you mean with it being a psychological issue, as I experienced the same thing myself. If you honestly feel that you are falling very far behind, perhaps look into getting a tutor. However, if you're able to manage your time well, study and gain relevant feedback yourself, and continue to remain on track at school and consistently achieve the results you want with school assessments you'll do just fine without a tutor as well.

Just an example; one of the best tutors in my area rejected a student who later achieved 1st in the state for that subject. So having an amazing tutor isn't always necessary, as long as you're willing to work for the results you want!

[qazser]

Worth a read:
Do students need tutoring to succeed in the VCE?

Welcome HSC students, don't see too many around AN 

[KarenCho]

Worth a read:
Do students need tutoring to succeed in the VCE?

Welcome HSC students, don't see too many around AN 

Thank you, thank you!
Yeah, we're slowly growing in numbers maybe we'll even take over you VCE students one day